El ilusionista

I just saw this wonderful film at the San Francisco Film Festival as a surprise entry. Beautifully shot and realized, it keeps you guessing until the end as to the true outcome. It was throughly entertaining and innovative. This movie has it all: romance, suspense, star crossed lovers and supernatural illusions. Edward Norton is perfectly cast as Eisenheim The Illusionist. His accent flowed seamlessly and he simply disappeared into the role. The real revelation to me was none other than Paul Giamatti. Paul's richly accented role was not altogether unlike Tommy Lee Jones' role in The Fugitive. I found his scenes with Norton full of respect and begrudging admiration. It was an absolute joy to see these two pros at work. I will definitely be paying to see this one again when it's released theatrically.

I am a long time fan of the old theatre magicians and have been fascinated by the wave of spiritualism that swept both continents around the turn of the last century. This movie plays off those real life happenings, with the added twist of court and political intrigue. The movie is lush - as a period piece should be - with terrific performances from a true ensemble cast. Edward Norton has the charismatic gaze that makes you believe in every thing he does. Jennifer Biel is tragic and compelling as a woman trapped by society and dubious duty. Paul Giamatti - who seems to be in every other movie these days - is wonderful as a conflicted man unsure of whom he serves. Rufus Sewell, as the Crown Prince Leopold, is that man, and he embodies the boo-hiss villain. Vain and driven, he is larger than life and not one to cross, as the illusionist comes to find out. The music of Philip Glass fits the scenes and add just the right amount of tension. Plus the horses are very old world with large hooves and a heck of a lot of presence. A compelling and beautiful film.

The Illusionist is directed by Neil Burger and Burger adapts the screenplay from "Eisenheim the Illusionist" written by Steven Millhauser. It stars Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel and Rufus Sewell. Music is by Philip Glass and cinematography by Dick Pope.

How splendid, a period romantic mystery that's filled with the mysticism of magical conjurings and political volatility. Plot essentially has Norton as Eisenheim The Illusionist, who later in life runs into Sophie (Biel), his childhood sweetheart, and finds that she's on course to marry Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell). Leopold has a bad reputation and it's not long before Eisenheim comes under Leopold's disdain, forcing Eisenheim to try and pull off the ultimate magic act to save Sophie and himself.

Creator Neil Burger crafts a picture that has everything going for it. The story is rock solid with intrigue credentials, where appropriately for a story based around magic tricks nothing is ever as it seems. The period flavours are smartly assembled, the Czech Republic locations smartly standing in for turn of the century Vienna, the art production is on point with the era of setting, as is the costuming. Glass drifts a tender melancholic score over the piece, while Pope's cinematography is simply gorgeous, offering up colour lensing that's aura enhancing, the kind you could get lost in for days.

The magic tricks are beguiling, as they should be and are in fact required since the narrative tantalisingly suggests Eisenheim may have supernatural powers? The story itself has no historical worth, but is fascinating none the less. It all builds towards its revelations, and much hinges on if the pay off is worth the admission fee? Most assuredly so it is, even if from a personal point of view this writer wouldn't have minded if pic had finished five minutes before the final revelation.

Either way, and with smart acting (Giamatti as the police inspector standing out) without histrionics holding things at the top end, this is delicate film making that engages the emotions fully for entertainment rewards. 8/10

The Illusionist is a very entertaining movie. The beginning of the movie sets an awesome foundation for the rest of the film to work with, without making the rest of the movie predictable and pointless. Although the basic story of boy gets girl, boy loses girl may not be original, the way the plot is presented with the excellent magical imagery keeps one interested in Edward Norton's character. My only complaint would be that the movie needs a little editing towards the end as the creators seem to show basically the same scene over and over in an attempt to drive home Norton's character's emotional distress. Unfortunately, this gets a little monotonous for viewers. Still, Norton, Sewell, Giamatti (and surprisingly Biel) provide excellent performances that, along with the beautiful cinematography, make a great movie.

Kind of a strange movie but very original and entertaining! It was a Gothic-romance period-piece drama-mystery, and quirky characters and a bizarre--or at least unusual--plot held my interest.

Edward Norton's character plays an inscrutable but romantic master illusionist. But is he just a master illusionist or has he developed powers to effect the creepy conjuring of those who have passed on? (Regardless, the guy is so easy on the eyes.)

Jessica Biel is beautiful and good in her role but I couldn't help thinking, "Hey, Jessica, Scarlett Johanssen called. She wants her lips back."

Paul Giamatti bothered me just a tad at first because he spoke in a near-whisper and had a scruffy beard so you couldn't read his lips. He got louder and his character developed pretty darned well, thank goodness. Actually, he was fantastic (so what else is new?).

The makers of this movie did the same thing the makers of Little Miss Sunshine did--made me want to see the film twice, but for different reasons: LMS because the first time I saw it, I laughed so hard I cried, and I really needed a laugh again (and got it); The Illusionist because I was like the audience for the title character's shows the first time I saw it--just kind of naive and awed and staring up at the action with my mouth hanging open. So I'll have to see it again and pay attention. Kind of like when my daughter told me to go see The Sixth Sense again and pay attention to what Bruce Willis's character was wearing. (Plot-wise, this is unrelated, folks--just a movie watcher's analogy.)

At first, the old-fashioned circle wipes seemed a little distracting, but in retrospect, they were part of the excellent movie-making decisions that created the illusion of time and place in this film. A really good story with really good art direction and really good actors, costumes and settings. Definitely worth a go-see--or two!